It is the English language literal translation of the name Joseph, which originates from Hebrew.

The name Increase is the English literal translation of the name Joseph, which originates from the Hebrew language.

The Hebrew version of Joseph, Yosef (יוֹסֵף), translates as meaning "Yahweh will/shall increase/add," or "He will add.

"[1] This name, in turn, originates from the Hebrew verb yasap (יסף), which means "to add, increase, or repeat.

It was written about Increase Mather (1639–1723), the Puritan minister, academic, and influential figure in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, that the reason he was given the name Increase was "... the never-to-be-forgotten increase, of every sort, wherewith God favoured the country about the time of his nativity".